The Remembrance of God the Result of Mental Depression
Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons
Psalm 42:6
O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember you from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites…


I. DEVOUT CONFIDENCE. "O my God."

1. Mine by natural right (Job 10:8; Psalm 119:73; Psalm 139:13; Zechariah 12:1; Hebrews 12:9).

2. Mine by personal preference (Psalm 63:1-8; 72:25).

3. Mine by adopting love (Jeremiah 3:19; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6).

4. Mine by Divine appropriation.

5. Mine by public avowal (Isaiah 44:5).

II. MENTAL DEPRESSION. This may result —

1. From bodily infirmities (Isaiah 38:14, 15).

2. From backsliding of heart. Defects in love, zeal, diligence.

3. From inward conflicts.

4. From afflictive bereavements.

5. From the state of mankind (Psalm 119:58, 136, 158; Philippians 3:18).

III. A Pious REMEMBRANCE OF GOD.

1. Wherever we go, God should be in our recollection. His actual presence; His continual agency; what He is in Himself and to His people.

2. The remembrance of God is the most effectual antidote against mental depression (2 Corinthians 4:17; Hebrews 12:11).The text may serve to remind us, by way of inference —

1. That man is born to trouble. The best of men may be disquieted and depressed: "without are fightings, and within are fears."

2. That pious people are accustomed to pour out their complaints to God.

3. That men who have no interest in God have no refuge in the hour of trouble; for vain is the help of man.

(Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.

WEB: My God, my soul is in despair within me. Therefore I remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon, from the hill Mizar.




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